Antithrombotic materials and methods

ABSTRACT

Antithrombotic materials and methods are provided for the treatment of thrombotic disorders, in which therapeutically effective amounts of BPI protein products are administered.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to therapeutic compositions and treatment methods utilizing bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) protein products for the treatment of thrombotic disorders.

The coagulation, or blood clotting process is involved both in normal hemostasis, in which the clot stops blood loss from a damaged blood vessel, and in abnormal thrombosis, in which the clot blocks circulation through a blood vessel. During normal hemostasis, the platelets adhere to the injured blood vessel and aggregate to form the primary hemostatic plug. The platelets then stimulate local activation of plasma coagulation factors, leading to generation of a fibrin clot that reinforces the platelet aggregate. Later, as wound healing occurs, the platelet aggregate and fibrin clot are degraded by specifically activated proteinases. During the pathological process of thrombosis, the same mechanisms create a platelet/fibrin clot that occludes a blood vessel. Arterial thrombosis may produce ischemic necrosis of the tissue supplied by the artery, e.g., myocardial infarction due to thrombosis of a coronary artery, or stroke due to thrombosis of a cerebral artery. Venous thrombosis may cause the tissues drained by the vein to become edematous and inflamed, and thrombosis of a deep vein may result in a pulmonary embolism.

An increased tendency toward thrombosis accompanies surgery, trauma, many inflammatory disorders, malignancy, pregnancy, obesity, vascular disorders and prolonged immobilization. Inherited thrombotic tendencies, which are much rarer, are being increasingly recognized and include deficiencies of the protein C-protein S system, deficiencies of antithrombin III (ATIII), dysfibrinogenemias, and other disorders of the fibrinolytic system. The evaluation of hypercoagulable risk involves checking for a family history of thromboembolism, and for other systemic predisposing diseases or conditions that favor localized vascular stasis (such as prolonged immobilization, pregnancy, or malignancy) and evaluating possible laboratory abnormalities, such as thrombocytosis, elevated blood or plasma viscosity, and elevated plasma levels of coagulation factors or fibrin degradation products. Levels of ATIII, protein C, or protein S levels, may also be measured, although hypercoagulability due to such abnormalities is uncommon compared to factors such as stasis or localized injury.

Severe derangements of the coagulation process are seen in disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), a syndrome characterized by the slow formation of fibrin microthrombi in the microcirculation and the development of concomitant fibrinolysis. The net result of these processes is the consumption of platelets and clotting factors in the thrombotic process, and the proteolytic digestion of several clotting factors by the fibrinolytic process, leading to decreased coagulability of the patient's blood. DIC never occurs as a primary disorder; it is always secondary to another disorder. These primary disorders fall into three general categories: (1) release of procoagulant substances into the blood, as may occur in amniotic fluid embolism, abruptio placentae, certain snake bites, and various malignancies, (2) contact of blood with an injured or abnormal surface, as may occur in extensive burns, infections, heat stroke, organ grafts, and during extracorporal circulation, and (3) generation of procoagulant-active substances within the blood, as may occur if red or white blood cell or platelet membranes become damaged and release thromboplastic substances, e.g., during leukemia treatment, hemolytic transfusion reactions and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia. Bacterial endotoxins on, associated with or released from gram-negative bacteria also have thromboplastin-like properties that initiate clotting.

Intravascular clotting occurs most frequently with shock, sepsis, cancer, obstetric complications, burns, and liver disease. There are no specific symptoms or signs unique to DIC. Bleeding, however, is much more evident than thrombosis. The rate and extent of clotting factor activation and consumption, the concentration of naturally occurring inhibitors, and the level of fibrinolytic activity determine the severity of the bleeding tendency. In some patients there is no clinical evidence of bleeding or thrombosis, and the syndrome becomes apparent only as a consequence of abnormal blood coagulation tests. Many patients develop only a few petechiae and ecchymotic areas and bleed a little more than usual from venipuncture sites. More pronounced forms of diffuse intravascular clotting may become evident as a result of severe gastrointestinal hemorrhage or genitourinary bleeding. In some instances bleeding may cause death. Hemorrhage caused by the DIC syndrome can be especially life threatening in association with obstetric complications or in conjunction with surgery.

The endpoint of the coagulation process is the generation of a powerful serine protease, thrombin, which cleaves the soluble plasma protein fibrinogen so that an insoluble meshwork of fibrin strands develops, enmeshing red cells and platelets to form a stable clot. This coagulation process can be triggered by injury to the-blood vessels and involves the rapid, highly controlled interaction of more than 20 different coagulation factors and other proteins to amplify the initial activation of a few molecules to an appropriately sized, fully developed clot. Most of the coagulation proteins are serine proteases that show a high degree of homology (Factors II, VII, IX, and X); others are cofactors without enzyme activity (Factors V and VIII). These proteins circulate as inactive zymogens in amounts far greater than are required for blood clotting. Both the injured vessel wall and platelet aggregates provide specialized surfaces that localize and catalyze the coagulation reactions.

The coagulation cascade can be initiated via two different activation pathways: the intrinsic pathway, involving contact with injured tissue or other surfaces, and the extrinsic pathway, involving tissue factor expressed on injured or inflamed tissue. Both pathways converge into a common pathway when Factor X is activated at the platelet surface. [See, e.g., Cecil's Essentials of Medicine, 3rd ed., W B Saunders Co., Pennsylvania (1983); Goodman & Gilman, The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 9th ed., McGraw-Hill, NY (1996).] The intrinsic pathway begins when Factor XII is activated to XIIa by contact with the altered or injured blood vessel surface or with another negatively charged surface, such as a glass tube. Cofactors or promoters of Factor XII activation include prekallikrein, high molecular weight kininogen, and Factor XI. These proteins form a surface-localized complex which optimally activates Factor XII. The activated Factor XIIa then converts the complex-bound Factor XI to its active form, XIa, and also converts prekallikrein to its active form, kallikrein, which then cleaves high molecular weight kininogen to form bradykinin. In turn, Factor XIa requires calcium ions (Ca²⁺) to activate Factor IX to IXa. Factor XIa may also activate Factor VII (in the extrinsic pathway) as well. Activated Factor XIa also cleaves plasminogen to form plasmin, which is the main protease involved in the fibrinolytic mechanisms that restrain blood clotting. In the presence of Ca²⁺ and phospholipid, Factor IXa activates Factor X to Xa, which is the first step in the common pathway. Factor X activation usually takes place at the plasma membrane of stimulated platelets but also may occur on the vascular endothelium.

In the extrinsic pathway, the release of tissue factor from injured tissues directly activates Factor VII to VIIa. Tissue factor is present in activated endothelium and monocytes as well as in brain, vascular adventitia, skin, and mucosa. Factor VIIa then activates Factor X to Xa in the presence of Ca²⁺. In addition, the tissue factor, Factor VII, and Ca²⁺ form a complex that can activate Factor IX (in the intrinsic pathway).

The activated Factor Xa (the first step in the common pathway) then activates prothrombin (Factor II) to generate the protease thrombin.

Assembly of the plasma prothrombinase complex on the surface of activated platelets in the presence of Factor V, another cofactor, enhances the efficiency of prothrombin activation to thrombin on the platelet surface. Thrombin cleaves fibrinogen, which is a large, asymmetric, soluble protein with a molecular weight of about 340 kilodaltons consisting of three pairs of polypeptide chains: Aα, Bβ, and γ. Thrombin first removes small peptides from the Aα chain of fibrinogen to form Fibrin I, which polymerizes end to end; further thrombin cleavage of small peptides from the Bβ chain leads to formation of Fibrin II molecules, which polymerize side to side and are then cross-linked via the γ subunits by the plasma glutaminase (Factor XIII) to form an insoluble fibrin clot.

Thrombin has multiple critical actions during coagulation in addition to the cleavage of fibrinogen to fibrin. It activates platelets, exposing their procoagulant activity (e.g., binding sites for the prothrombinase complex) and induces the release of platelet-aggregating substances such as thromboxane, Ca²⁺, ADP, von Willebrand factor, fibronectin, and thrombospondin. Thrombin cleaves Factors VIII and Va, thus augmenting the coagulation cascade, and also cleaves plasma glutaminase, the enzyme which cross-links fibrin and stabilizes the fibrin clot. Thrombin acts on the endothelium by binding to the surface protein thrombomodulin to activate protein C, which is a potent inactivator of Factors Va and VIIIa and also stimulates fibrinolysis. Thrombin also causes endothelial cell contraction. Conversely, endothelium can bind and inactivate thrombin, and in some cases can generate the vasodilatory substance prostacyclin in response to thrombin. Thus, thrombin activation contributes to the limitation as well as the initiation of clotting.

There are two commonly used tests for measuring the coagulability of blood: the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT or PTT) and the prothrombin time (PT). Blood generally clots in vitro in four to eight minutes when placed in a glass tube. Clotting is prevented if a chelating agent such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) or citrate is added to bind Ca²⁺. Recalcified plasma, i.e., plasma in which Ca²⁺ has been replenished, clots in two to four minutes. The clotting time after recalcification is shortened to 26 to 33 seconds by the addition of negatively charged phospholipids and a particulate substance such as kaolin (aluminum silicate); this post-recalcification clotting time is the APTT. Alternatively, recalcified plasma will clot in 12 to 14 seconds after addition of “thromboplastin,” a saline extract of brain that contains tissue factor and phospholipids; this post-recalcification clotting time is the PT.

An individual with a prolonged APTT and a normal PT is considered to have a defect in the intrinsic coagulation pathway, because all of the components of the APTT test (except kaolin) are intrinsic to the plasma. A patient with a prolonged PT and a normal APTT has a defect in the extrinsic coagulation pathway, since thromboplastin is extrinsic to the plasma. Prolongation of both the APTT and the PT suggests a defect in a common pathway.

Whereas the blood coagulation pathways involve a series of enzymatic activations of serine protease zymogens, downregulation of blood clotting is influenced by a variety of natural anticoagulant mechanisms, including antithrombin III (ATIII), the protein C-protein S system, and fibrinolysis. Normal vascular endothelium promotes the activation of these anticoagulant mechanisms by acting as a source of heparin-like substances that enhance ATIII activation, a source of thrombomodulin, a cofactor in protein C activation, and a source of the tissue plasminogen activators that initiate fibrinolysis.

The anticoagulant ATIII is a plasma protease inhibitor that is specific for plasmin, the enzyme that dissolves clots. ATIII also binds all the serine protease procoagulant proteins (Factor Xa as well as thrombin). Complexes of ATIII and protease are rapidly cleared by the liver and the reticuloendothelial system. The activity of ATIII is enhanced by heparin or heparin-like substances. Other enzymes that play a role in limiting the coagulation process include the nonspecific plasma protease inhibitors α₁-antitrypsin, α₂-plasmin inhibitor, and α₂-macroglobulin, which rapidly inactivate any circulating serine proteases including thrombin and plasmin.

The final stage of the coagulation process is fibrinolysis, or clot dissolution. The endpoint of the fibrinolytic system is the generation of the enzyme plasmin, which dissolves intravascular clots by digesting fibrin. Fibrinolysis is initiated during clotting by the action of thrombin. When complexed to thrombomodulin in the endothelium, thrombin activates protein C, which initiates the release of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) from the blood vessel wall. Protein C, together with its cofactor protein S, also inactivates Factors Va and VIIIa, thus dampening the coagulation cascade. The tPA then cleaves a circulating proenzyme, plasminogen, to form the active protease, plasmin, which digests fibrin. Plasmin is a relatively nonspecific protease; it not only digests fibrin clots but also digests other plasma proteins, including several coagulation factors.

The fibrinolytic system is regulated in a manner so that unwanted fibrin thrombi are removed, while fibrin in wounds persists to maintain hemostasis. The tPA is released from endothelial cells in response to various signals, including stasis produced by occlusion of the blood vessel. This released tPA exerts little effect on circulating plasminogen because tPA is rapidly cleared from blood or inhibited by circulating inhibitors, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and plasminogen activator inhibitor-2. Both plasminogen and its activator tPA bind to fibrin. The activity of tPA is actually enhanced by this binding to fibrin, so that the generation of plasmin is localized to the vicinity of the blood clot. In addition, fibrin-bound plasmin is protected from inhibition.

Four main types of therapies are used to prevent or treat thrombosis: antiplatelet agents, anticoagulant agents (heparin), vitamin K antagonists (coumarin derivatives) and thrombolytic agents. Each type of agent interferes with clotting at a different site in the coagulation pathway [See, generally, Goodman & Gilman, The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 9th ed., McGraw-Hill, NY (1996).] Dipyridamole is another agent sometimes used to prevent or treat thrombosis; it is a vasodilator that, in combination with warfarin (a coumarin derivative), inhibits embolization from prosthetic heart valves and, in combination with aspirin, reduces thrombosis in patients with thrombotic disorders.

The antiplatelet agents include aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents such as ibuprofen, which are all administered orally. Aspirin acts by irreversibly inhibiting platelet cyclooxygenase and thus blocking production of thromboxane A₂, an inducer of platelet aggregation and potent vasoconstrictor. In general, antiplatelet agents are used as prophylaxis against arterial thrombosis, because platelets are more important in initiating arterial than venous thrombi. Antiplatelet therapy also reduces the risk of occlusion of saphenous vein bypass grafts.

The anticoagulant agents include heparin and its derivatives, which act by accelerating the activities of ATIII in inhibiting thrombin generation and in antagonizing thrombin's action. Low molecular weight preparations of heparin such as dalteparin and enoxaparin may also be effective for anticoagulation. Heparin increases the rate of the thrombin-antithrombin reaction at least a thousandfold by serving as a catalytic template. Heparin can only be administered parenterally and has an immediate anticoagulant effect. It is used to prevent and treat arterial and venous thrombosis, as well as to keep blood fluid during extracorporeal circulation, such as with renal hemodialysis or during cardiopulmonary bypass, and to keep vascular access catheters patent. Heparin therapy is also standard in patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

Bleeding is the primary adverse effect of heparin. Major bleeding occurs in 1% to 33% of patients who receive various forms of heparin therapy. Purpura, ecchymoses, hematomas, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hematuria, and retroperitoneal bleeding are regularly encountered complications of heparin therapy. Frequently bleeding is most pronounced at sites of invasive procedures. If bleeding is severe, the effects of heparin can be counteracted by giving 1 mg of protamine sulfate for each 100 units of heparin. Another side effect, thrombocytopenia, also occurs in 1% to 5% of patients receiving heparin, but subsides when heparin is discontinued.

The vitamin K antagonists (coumarin derivatives) are sometimes referred to as oral anticoagulants although they do not actually directly inhibit the coagulation cascade. These agents include 4-hydroxycoumarin, warfarin sodium, dicumarol, phenprocoumon, indan-1,3-dione, acenocoumarol, and anisindione. They interfere with the hepatic synthesis of Factors II, VII, IX, and X and proteins C and S, which are all involved in the coagulation process, and therefore have a slow onset of anticoagulant effect that spans several days. They are given orally; once the dose is established for an individual patient, they can provide a steady level of anticoagulation. Vitamin K antagonists are used for both the prevention and treatment of arterial and venous thrombosis.

Bleeding is the major adverse effect of vitamin K antagonists. Especially serious episodes involve sites where irreversible damage may result from compression of vital structures (e.g., intracranial, pericardial, nerve sheath, or spinal cord) or from massive internal blood loss that may not be diagnosed rapidly (e.g., gastrointestinal, intraperitoneal, retroperitoneal). The risk of intracerebral or subdural hematoma in patients over 50 years of age taking an oral anticoagulant over a long term may be increased ten-fold. For continued or serious bleeding, vitamin K₁ (phytonadione) is an effective antidote. Since reversal of anticoagulation by vitamin K₁ requires the synthesis of fully carboxylated coagulation proteins, significant improvement in hemostasis does not occur for several hours, regardless of the route of administration, and 24 hours or longer may be needed for maximal effect. Warfarin is contraindicated in women who are or may become pregnant because the drug passes through placental barrier and may cause fatal hemorrhage in the fetus. Warfarin treatment during pregnancy may also cause spontaneous abortion, still birth and birth defects.

The thrombolytic agents include tPA, streptokinase, urokinase prourokinase, anisolylated plasminogen streptokinase activation complex (APSAC), and animal salivary gland plasminogen activators, all of which act by accelerating fibrinolysis. The thrombolytic drugs are used to lyse freshly formed arterial and venous thrombi; they are not efficacious in dissolving thrombi that have been present for more than a few hours. The intravenous administration of these agents is now accepted as useful therapy in the management of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, acute myocardial infarction, and peripheral arterial thromboembolism.

The major toxicity of all thrombolytic agents is hemorrhage, which results from two factors. Therapy with thrombolytic drugs tends to dissolve both pathological thrombi and fibrin deposits at sites of vascular injury. In addition, a systemic lytic state results from systemic formation of plasmin, which produces fibrinogenolysis and destruction of other coagulation factors. Massive fibrinolysis is initiated, and the inhibitory controls of the process are overwhelmed. The systemic loss of fibrinogen and platelet dysfunction caused by the thrombolytic agents also produces a hemorrhagic tendency. Thus, the use of thrombolytic agents is contraindicated in situations where there is active bleeding or a risk of major hemorrhage.

If heparin is used concurrently with either streptokinase or t-PA, serious hemorrhage will occur in 2% to 4% of patients. Intracranial hemorrhage is by far the most serious problem; it occurs in approximately 1% of cases, and the frequency is the same with all three thrombolytic agents. Retroperitoneal hemorrhage is also a serious complication. The frequency of hemorrhage is less when thrombolytic agents are utilized to treat myocardial infarction compared with pulmonary embolism or venous thrombosis; this difference may be due to the duration of therapy (1 to 3 hours for myocardial infarction, compared to 12 to 72 hours for pulmonary embolism and venous thrombosis).

In general, venous thrombosis and its potential for life-threatening pulmonary embolism are prevented and treated with heparin or warfarin. Low-dose subcutaneous heparin is frequently used as prophylaxis against venous thrombosis in surgical patients but is ineffective in those at highest risk, for example, after hip fracture. Warfarin reduces mortality from pulmonary embolism and can be given more safely to immobilized or post-surgical patients in low-dose or stepwise regimens. Once a venous thrombosis has developed, however, full-dose heparin treatment for 5 to 10 days overlapping with full-dose warfarin treatment for 4 to 5 days is necessary to prevent clot progression and/or pulmonary embolism. Thrombolytic agents have been used to treat pulmonary embolism and deep venous thrombosis, but their efficacy in reducing mortality remains to be established. Aspirin offers little value in treating venous thromboembolism.

For acute arterial thrombosis, thrombolytic therapy is generally the treatment of choice. The goals of thrombolytic therapy are to achieve rapid reperfusion of the thrombosed vessel and maintain patency of the vessel; these objectives are based on the premise that rapid and sustained restoration of blood flow reduces associated complications. However, multiple episodes of vessel reocclusion typically follow thrombolytic therapy. Although widely used as an adjunct to thrombolytic therapy, heparin does not accelerate thrombolysis or prevent reocclusion of the vessel. [Klement et al., Thrombosis Haemostasis, 68:64-68 (1992).] In patients with a fresh coronary thrombosis, intravenous thrombolytic therapy can permit rapid reperfusion of the thrombosed coronary artery, thus preserving cardiac function and reducing mortality, if administered within a few hours of the onset of symptoms. Thrombolytic agents can also re-establish the patency of thrombosed peripheral arteries if administered within a few hours after acute thrombosis. In some instances, e.g., for coronary artery thrombosis, the thrombolytic agent is administered locally by selective catheterization of the involved vessel. When given systemically rather than locally, a therapeutic effect is evident if the thrombin time is greater than twice normal. Such treatment should generally be followed by heparin and then oral anticoagulants to prevent further clot promulgation or recurrence. Following thrombolytic therapy and before the thrombin time has returned to its normal range, heparin is generally given to fully anticoagulate the patient for five to ten days. Warfarin may be started before the heparin is stopped, depending on whether prolonged anticoagulation will be required in the management of the patient's disorder. Aspirin is ineffective in the immediate setting, but is useful for long-term prophylaxis against arterial thrombosis. Recent studies suggest that the concurrent administration of low doses of aspirin improves the efficacy of thrombolytic therapy of myocardial infarction. Patients with symptomatic strokes are acutely anticoagulated with heparin and followed indefinitely with warfarin. Aspirin is recommended for prophylaxis of stroke in patients with cervical bruits, asymptomatic carotid stenosis, or a history of transient ischemic attacks and minor stroke.

Considerable controversy continues to surround the use of heparin in DIC. Heparin is usually reserved for fulminant, explosive forms of diffuse intravascular clotting, in which massive defibrination is accompanied by fibrinogen levels of less than 100 mg/dL and replacement therapy is not controlling the hemorrhage. In these cases, heparin is given as a continuous intravenous infusion at a rate of 10 to 15 units/kg/hour. If the patient is in immediate danger of dying from hemorrhage, 5000 to 10,000 units of heparin are given intravenously as a bolus and heparin is then continued at an infusion rate of 1000 units per hour.

Heparin can also be useful in treating unstable angina and patients undergoing elective cardioversion for atrial fibrillation of greater than 2 days duration. Warfarin and aspirin are useful for prophylaxis of cerebral embolism, particularly in patients at risk because of atrial fibrillation. More than 50% of patients with cerebral embolism have atrial fibrillation. Warfarin is also recommended for treating patients with mechanical heart valves, for whom the associated risk of embolism is 2% to 6% per patient per year despite anticoagulation, patients with rheumatic mitral valve disease, in whom the rate of associated thromboembolic complications is 1.5% to 4.7% per year, and patients with a history of thromboembolism. Aspirin is recommended for patients with mitral valve prolapse.

Anti-thrombotic agents are also used routinely to prevent the occlusion of extracorporeal devices: intravascular cannulas (heparin), vascular access shunts in hemodialysis patients (aspirin), hemodialysis machines (heparin), and cardiopulmonary bypass machines (heparin). In addition, they have been utilized in the treatment of certain renal diseases (heparin/warfarin) and small-cell lung cancer (warfarin).

BPI is a protein isolated from the granules of mammalian polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs or neutrophils), which are blood cells essential in the defense against invading microorganisms. Human BPI protein has been isolated from PMNs by acid extraction combined with either ion exchange chromatography [Elsbach, J. Biol. Chem., 254:11000 (1979)] or E. coli affinity chromatography [Weiss, et al., Blood, 69:652 (1987)]. BPI obtained in such a manner is referred to herein as natural BPI and has been shown to have potent bactericidal activity against a broad spectrum of gram-negative bacteria. The molecular weight of human BPI is approximately 55,000 daltons (55 kD). The amino acid sequence of the entire human BPI protein and the nucleic acid sequence of DNA encoding the protein have been reported in FIG. 1 of Gray et al., J. Biol. Chem., 264:9505 (1989), incorporated herein by reference. The Gray et al. amino acid sequence is set out in SEQ ID NO: 1 hereto. U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,541 discloses recombinant genes encoding and methods for expression of BPI proteins, including BPI holoprotein and fragments of BPI.

BPI is a strongly cationic protein. The N-terminal half of BPI accounts for the high net positive charge; the C-terminal half of the molecule has a net charge of −3. [Elsbach and Weiss (1981), supra.] A proteolytic N-terminal fragment of BPI having a molecular weight of about 25 kD possesses essentially all the anti-bacterial efficacy of the naturally-derived 55 kD human BPI holoprotein. [Ooi et al., J. Bio. Chem., 262: 14891-14894 (1987)]. In contrast to the N-terminal portion, the C-terminal region of the isolated human BPI protein displays only slightly detectable anti-bacterial activity against gram-negative organisms. [Ooi et al., J. Exp. Med., 174:649 (1991).] An N-terminal BPI fragment of approximately 23 kD, referred to as “rBPI₂₃,” has been produced by recombinant means and also retains anti-bacterial activity against gram-negative organisms as well as endotoxin-neutralizing activity. [Gazzano-Santoro et al., Infect. Immun. 60:4754-4761 (1992).]

The bactericidal effect of BPI has been reported to be highly specific to gram-negative species, e.g., in Elsbach and Weiss, Inflammation: Basic Principles and Clinical Correlates, eds. Gallin et al., Chapter 30, Raven Press, Ltd. (1992). The precise mechanism by which BPI kills gram-negative bacteria is not yet completely elucidated, but it is believed that BPI must first bind to the surface of the bacteria through electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between the cationic BPI protein and negatively charged sites on LPS. In susceptible gram-negative bacteria, BPI binding is thought to disrupt LPS structure, leading to activation of bacterial enzymes that degrade phospholipids and peptidoglycans, altering the permeability of the cell's outer membrane, and initiating events that ultimately lead to cell death. [Elsbach and Weiss (1992), supra]. LPS has been referred to as “endotoxin” because of the potent inflammatory response that it stimulates, i.e., the release of mediators by host inflammatory cells which may ultimately result in irreversible endotoxic shock. BPI binds to and neutralizes lipid A, reported to be the most toxic and most biologically active component of LPS.

In addition to BPI's bactericidal and endotoxin binding/neutralizing activities, BPI has been shown to bind and neutralize heparin. Co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,942 was issued Sep. 20, 1994 with claims directed to methods of neutralizing the anticoagulant effects of heparin with BPI protein products (i.e., their procoagulant activity). There has been no suggestion or use of BPI as an anticoagulant or thrombolytic agent, nor any suggestion of its use for the prophylaxis or treatment of thrombotic disorders.

There exists a need in the art for methods and compositions capable of exerting anticoagulant or thrombolytic effects without severe adverse side effects, and methods and compositions capable of improving the therapeutic effectiveness of existing anticoagulant or thrombolytic agents, which ideally could reduce the required dosages of such existing agents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides novel methods for slowing clot formation and for enhancing clot dissolution using BPI protein products, and further provides methods for treatment of thrombotic disorders by administration of BPI protein products in therapeutically effective amounts.

According to the invention, a BPI protein product such as rBPI₂₁ is administered to a subject suffering from thrombotic disorder in an amount effective to treat such disorder, including prophylactic and therapeutic treatment. BPI protein products reduce the adverse effects of thrombotic disorder by activities that include slowing or delaying clot formation (i.e., anticoagulant activity) or by enhancing, accelerating or increasing clot dissolution (i.e., thrombolytic activity).

In another aspect of the invention, methods are provided for the treatment of thrombotic disorder by concurrent administration of a BPI protein product with a thrombolytic agent, including tPA, streptokinase, urokinase, prourokinase, APSAC, animal salivary gland plasminogen activators, other plasminogen activators, and derivatives of such plasminogen activators. According to this aspect of the invention, the thrombolytic agent dissolves the clot, while the BPI protein product enhances the dissolution activity of the thrombolytic agent and/or delays clot formation, thus delaying, decreasing or preventing rethrombosis. The BPI protein products are effective with both endogenous levels and therapeutic levels of thrombolytic agents such as plasminogen activators.

This aspect of the invention also provides methods for decreasing the dose of a thrombolytic agent required for a desired therapeutic or prophylactic effect in a patient, such as for dissolving a blood clot, by concurrent administration of BPI protein product and the thrombolytic agent.

The invention further provides methods for accelerating reperfusion and/or delaying or preventing reocclusions in a subject treated with a thrombolytic agent, e.g., tPA, by concurrent administration of BPI protein product with the thrombolytic agent.

As will be appreciated from the following detailed description, methods of the present invention provide safer and more effective treatment of thrombotic disorders than conventional therapies. By reducing the dosage of antithrombotic agent required to achieve a desired therapeutic effect, BPI protein products can reduce or eliminate the potential side effects often associated with conventional antithrombotic agent therapies, while not interfering with the antithrombotic activity of those agents. Importantly, use of such BPI protein products can enhance the antithrombotic activity of such agents by slowing clot formation or enhancing clot dissolution.

Numerous additional aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention which describes presently prepared embodiments thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Thrombotic disorders, including acute vascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral arterial occlusion, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and other blood system thromboses, constitute major health risks. Such disorders are caused by either partial or total occlusion of a blood vessel by a blood clot, which consists of fibrin and platelet aggregates. Therapeutic intervention with agents that prevent or delay clot formation (i.e., anticoagulants) or with agents that dissolve blood clots (i.e., thrombolytics) is associated with numerous limitations, complications, risks and side effects. Most significant are the bleeding side effects associated with therapeutic doses of such agents and the complications associated with rethrombosis and reocclusion following reperfusion. It has now been unexpectedly discovered that administration of BPI protein products effectively slows clot formation and enhances clot dissolution in blood. The administered BPI protein product present in the blood during clot formation delays clotting time and/or may change the character of the clot that is formed to a looser, less stable clot.

It is contemplated that BPI protein products may be administered alone or concurrently with other antithrombotic (anticoagulant or thrombolytic) agents. Anticoagulant agents are agents with the pharmacological effect of slowing clot formation, such as dalteparin and enoxaparin, the coumarin derivative oral anticoagulants such as warfarin, and aspirin. Thrombolytic agents are agents with the pharmacological effect of enhancing clot dissolution, and include plasminogen activators such as t-PA, streptokinase, urokinase, proutokinase, APSAC, animal salivary gland plasminogen activators and derivatives thereof.

BPI protein products used according to methods of the invention unexpectedly have the property of making blood clots more susceptible to dissolution or lysis either at endogenous levels or added levels of plasminogen activators, such as tPA. Whether the tPA is present prior to clot formation or after clot formation, the BPI protein product enhances clot dissolution, e.g., accelerates clot dissolution or lysis, or provides more complete clot dissolution or lysis. Thus, BPI protein products are useful in methods for the treatment of thrombotic disorders, for dissolving or lysing clots in thrombotic patients, for delaying or inhibiting hard clot formation or supplementing thrombolytic therapy in the patients.

The previously described biological activities of BPI protein products, including bactericidal, endotoxin binding and neutralizing, heparin binding and neutralizing activities, do not suggest or even hint at the anticoagulant or thrombolytic activities of BPI protein products and the therapeutic uses that arise from these unexpected and previously undiscovered activities. In particular, the activity of BPI protein products as agents for treatment of thrombotic disorders is particularly surprising in view of the previously discovered activity of BPI protein products to bind and neutralize heparin (see, co-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,942).

The term “treatment” as used herein encompasses both prophylactic and therapeutic treatment of thrombotic disorders.

The term “thrombotic disorder” as used herein encompasses conditions associated with or resulting from thrombosis or a tendency towards thrombosis. These conditions include conditions associated with arterial thrombosis, such as coronary artery thrombosis and resulting myocardial infarction, cerebral artery thrombosis or intracardiac thrombosis (due to, e.g., atrial fibrillation) and resulting stroke, and other peripheral arterial thrombosis and occlusion; conditions associated with venous thrombosis, such as deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism; conditions associated with exposure of the patient's blood to a foreign or injured tissue surface, including diseased heart valves, mechanical heart valves, vascular grafts, and other extracorporeal devices such as intravascular cannulas, vascular access shunts in hemodialysis patients, hemodialysis machines and cardiopulmonary bypass machines; and conditions associated with coagulapathies, such as hypercoagulability and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy that are not the result of an endotoxin-initiated coagulation cascade.

“Concurrent administration,” or “co-administration” or “co-treatment,” as used herein includes administration of the agents, in conjunction or combination, together, or before or after each other. The BPI protein product and other antithrombotic (including anticoagulant or thrombolytic) agents may be administered by different routes. For example, the BPI protein product may be administered intravenously while the antithrombotic agent is administered intramuscularly, intravenously, subcutaneously or orally. Alternatively, the BPI protein product may be administered, e.g., in an aerosolized or nebulized form while the antithrombotic agent is administered, e.g., intravenously. The BPI protein product and antithrombotic agent are preferably both administered intravenously, in which case they may be given sequentially in the same intravenous line, or after an intermediate flush, or in different intravenous lines. The BPI protein product and antithrombotic agent may be administered simultaneously or sequentially, as long as they are given in a manner sufficient to allow both agents to achieve effective concentrations at the site of thrombosis. During sequential administration of BPI protein product and antithrombotic agent, it is also contemplated that a time period varying from minutes to hours may intervene between the administration of the agents.

Conventional antithrombotic agents are expected to be administered in dosages and by routes consistent with the usual clinical practice. The typical dosages and administration regimens for some of these anticoagulant and thrombolytic agents, when administered as monotherapy, are discussed below. Naturally, these dosages vary as determined by good medical practice and the clinical condition of the individual patient.

The dosing of warfarin must be individualized according to the patient's sensitivity to the drug as indicated by its effect on the prothrombin time (PT) ratio. The loading dose is typically 2 to 5 mg/day and most patients are satisfactorily maintained at a dose of 2 to 10 mg/day. Warfarin is generally given orally but may be administered intravenously if the patient cannot take the drug orally.

Urokinase is indicated for lysis of acute pulmonary emboli and coronary artery emboli, and is also used to restore patency to intravenous cannulae and catheters. The drug is typically administered in an initial dose of 2,000 units/lb over a period of 10 minutes followed by a continuous infusion of 2,000 units/lb/hr for 12 hours. The total dose of urokinase given will range from 2.25 million to 6.25 million units, depending on the weight of the patient. When it is used to clear intravenous cannulae or catheters, urokinase is given as a single injection of 5,000 units in a volume of 1 mL.

Streptokinase is indicated for use in the management of acute myocardial infection, lysis of intracoronary thrombi, arterial thrombosis or embolism, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and for clearing blocked cannulae or catheters. For treatment of acute myocardial infarction, 1.5 million units may be given by intravenous infusion over 60 minutes. Alternatively, it may be given by intracoronary infusion of a 20,000 unit bolus followed by 2,000 units/min. over 60 minutes. For other non-myocardial infarction indications, a dosage of 250,000 units by intravenous infusion over 30 minutes is appropriate for the great majority of patients.

Anistreplase (also known as ASPAC) is generally administered in a single dose of 30 units by intravenous injection over 2 to 5 minutes. Its use is indicated in the management of acute myocardial infection and for the lysis of coronary artery thrombi.

The drug tPA is dosed based upon patient weight, with the total dose not exceeding 100 milligrams. For patients weighing more than 67 kg, the recommended dose is a 15 mg initial intravenous bolus followed by a continuous infusion of 15 mg over 30 minutes, and further followed by 35 mg infused over the next 60 minutes. For patients weighing less than or equal to 67 kg, the recommended dose is a 15 mg initial intravenous bolus followed by 0.75 mg/kg (not to exceed 50 mg) over 30 minutes, and further followed by 0.5 mg/kg (not to exceed 35 mg) over the following 60 minutes.

Therapeutic compositions comprising BPI protein product may be administered systemically or locally into the involved vessel. Systemic routes of administration include oral, intravenous, intramuscular or subcutaneous injection (including into a depot for long-term release), intraocular and retrobulbar, intrathecal, intraperitoneal (e.g., by intraperitoneal lavage), intrapulmonary using aerosolized or nebulized drug, or transdermal. The preferred systemic route is intravenous administration. In some instances, e.g., for coronary artery or peripheral artery thrombosis, it is advantageous to administer the BPI protein product regionally by selective catheterization of the involved vessel. When given parenterally, BPI protein product compositions are generally injected in doses ranging from 1 μg/kg to 100 mg/kg per day, preferably at doses ranging from 0.1 mg/kg to 20 mg/kg per day, and more preferably at doses ranging from 1 to 20 mg/kg/day. The treatment may continue by continuous infusion or intermittent injection or infusion, at the same, reduced or increased dose per day for as long as determined by the treating physician. Those skilled in the art can readily optimize effective dosages and monotherapeutic or concurrent administration regimens for BPI protein product and/or other antithrombotic agents, as determined by good medical practice and the clinical condition of the individual patient.

When BPI protein product is concurrently administered with antithrombotic agents, the BPI protein product and the antithrombotic agents may each be administered in amounts that would be sufficient for monotherapeutic effectiveness, or they may be administered in less than monotherapeutic amounts. It is expected that BPI protein products are capable of improving the therapeutic effectiveness of existing anticoagulant or thrombolytic agents, which would reduce the dosages needed to exert their desired anticoagulant or thrombolytic effects. This, in turn, decreases the risk of adverse side effects associated with the use of thrombolytic agents, including, for example, undesirable internal or external bleeding.

BPI protein products may improve the therapeutic effectiveness of other antithrombotic agents in a variety of ways. For example, lowering the dosage of the antithrombotic agent required for therapeutic effectiveness reduces toxicity and/or cost of treatment, and thus allows wider use of the agent. Alternatively, concurrent administration may produce an increased, more rapid or more complete anticoagulant or thrombolytic effect than could be achieved with either agent alone.

It is further contemplated that BPI protein product compositions are useful, in vitro or in vivo in restoring or maintaining patency of cannulae, catheters and tubing obstructed by clotted blood or fibrin, in maintaining the anticoagulation of blood, e.g., in blood bags, and in maintaining blood fluidity in, e.g., hemodialysis and extracorporeal circulation, and around foreign implants, e.g., heart valves or prosthetics.

As used herein, “BPI protein product” includes naturally and recombinantly produced BPI protein; natural, synthetic, and recombinant biologically active polypeptide fragments of BPI protein; biologically active polypeptide variants of BPI protein or fragments thereof, including hybrid fusion proteins and dimers; biologically active polypeptide analogs of BPI protein or fragments or variants thereof, including cysteine-substituted analogs; and BPI-derived peptides. The BPI protein products administered according to this invention may be generated and/or isolated by any means known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,541, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses recombinant genes encoding and methods for expression of BPI proteins including recombinant BPI holoprotein, referred to as rBPI₅₀ and recombinant fragments of BPI. Co-owned, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/885,501 and a continuation-in-part thereof, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/072,063 filed May 19, 1993 and corresponding PCT Application No. 93/04752 filed May 19, 1993, which are all incorporated herein by reference, disclose novel methods for the purification of recombinant BPI protein products expressed in and secreted from genetically transformed mammalian host cells in culture and discloses how one may produce large quantities of recombinant BPI products suitable for incorporation into stable, homogeneous pharmaceutical preparations.

Biologically active fragments of BPI (BPI fragments) include biologically active molecules that have the same or similar amino acid sequence as a natural human BPI holoprotein, except that the fragment molecule lacks amino-terminal amino acids, internal amino acids, and/or carboxy-terminal amino acids of the holoprotein. Nonlimiting examples of such fragments include a N-terminal fragment of natural human BPI of approximately 25 kD, described in Ooi et al., J. Exp. Med., 174:649 (1991), and the recombinant expression product of DNA encoding N-terminal amino acids from 1 to about 193 or 199 of natural human BPI, described in Gazzano-Santoro et al., Infect. Immun. 60:4754-4761 (1992), and referred to as rBPI₂₃. In that publication, an expression vector was used as a source of DNA encoding a recombinant expression product (rBPI₂₃) having the 31-residue signal sequence and the first 199 amino acids of the N-terminus of the mature human BPI, as set out in FIG. 1 of Gray et al., supra, except that valine at position 151 is specified by GTG rather than GTC and residue 185 is glutamic acid (specified by GAG) rather than lysine (specified by AAG). Recombinant holoprotein (rBPI) has also been produced having the sequence (SEQ ID NOS: 1 and 2) set out in FIG. 1 of Gray et al., supra, with the exceptions noted for rBPI₂₃ and with the exception that residue 417 is alanine (specified by GCT) rather than valine (specified by GTT). Other examples include dimeric forms of BPI fragments, as described in co-owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/212,132, filed Mar. 11, 1994, and corresponding PCT Application No. PCT/US95/03125, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Preferred dimeric products include dimeric BPI protein products wherein the monomers are amino-terminal BPI fragments having the N-terminal residues from about 1 to 175 to about 1 to 199 of BPI holoprotein. A particularly preferred dimeric product is the dimeric form of the BPI fragment having N-terminal residues 1 through 193, designated rBPI₄₂ dimer.

Biologically active variants of BPI (BPI variants) include but are not limited to recombinant hybrid fusion proteins, comprising BPI holoprotein or biologically active fragment thereof and at least a portion of at least one other polypeptide, and dimeric forms of BPI variants. Examples of such hybrid fusion proteins and dimeric forms are described by Theofan et al. in co-owned, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/885,911, and a continuation-in-part application thereof, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/064,693 filed May 19, 1993 and corresponding PCT Application No. US93/04754 filed May 19, 1993, which are all incorporated herein by reference and include hybrid fusion proteins comprising, at the amino-terminal end, a BPI protein or a biologically active fragment thereof and, at the carboxy-terminal end, at least one constant domain of an immunoglobulin heavy chain or allelic variant thereof. Similarly configured hybrid fusion proteins involving part or all Lipopolysaccharide Binding Protein (LBP) are also contemplated for use in the present invention.

Biologically active analogs of BPI (BPI analogs) include but are not limited to BPI protein products wherein one or more amino acid residues have been replaced by a different amino acid. For example, co-owned, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/013,801 filed Feb. 2, 1993 and corresponding PCT Application No. US94/01235 filed Feb. 2, 1994, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses polypeptide analogs of BPI and BPI fragments wherein a cysteine residue is replaced by a different amino acid. A preferred BPI protein product described by this application is the expression product of DNA encoding from amino acid 1 to approximately 193 or 199 of the N-terminal amino acids of BPI holoprotein, but wherein the cysteine at residue number 132 is substituted with alanine and is designated rBPI₂₁Δcys or rBPI₂₁. Other examples include dimeric forms of BPI analogs; e.g. co-owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/212,132 filed Mar. 11, 1994, and corresponding PCT Application No. PCT/US95/03125, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Other BPI protein products useful according to the methods of the invention are peptides derived from or based on BPI produced by recombinant or synthetic means (BPI-derived peptides), such as those described in co-owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/504,841 filed Jul. 20, 1995 and in co-owned and copending PCT Application No. PCT/US94/10427 filed Sep. 15, 1994, which corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/306,473 filed Sep. 15, 1994, and PCT Application No. US94/02465 filed Mar. 11, 1994, which corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/209,762, filed Mar. 11, 1994, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/183,222, filed Jan. 14, 1994, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/093,202 filed Jul. 15, 1993 (for which the corresponding international application is PCT Application No. US94/02401 filed Mar. 11, 1994), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/030,644 filed Mar. 12, 1993, the disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Presently preferred BPI protein products include recombinantly-produced N-terminal fragments of BPI, especially those having a molecular weight of approximately between 21 to 25 kD such as rBPI₂₁ or rBPI₂₃, or dimeric forms of these N-terminal fragments (e.g., rBPI₄₂ dimer). Additionally, preferred BPI protein products include rBPI₅₀ and BPI-derived peptides.

The administration of BPI protein products is preferably accomplished with a pharmaceutical composition comprising a BPI protein product and a pharmaceutically acceptable diluent, adjuvant, or carrier. The BPI protein product may be administered without or in conjunction with known surfactants, other chemotherapeutic agents or additional known anti-microbial agents. One pharmaceutical composition containing BPI protein products (e.g., rBPI₅₀, rBPI₂₃) comprises the BPI protein product at a concentration of 1 mg/ml in citrate buffered saline (5 or 20 mM citrate, 150 mM NaCl, pH 5.0) comprising 0.1% by weight of poloxamer 188 (Pluronic F-68, BASF Wyandotte, Parsippany, N.J.) and 0.002% by weight of polysorbate 80 (Tween 80, ICI Americas Inc., Wilmington, Del.). Another pharmaceutical composition containing BPI protein products (e.g., rBPI₂₁) comprises the BPI protein product at a concentration of 2 mg/mL in 5 mM citrate, 150 mM NaCl, 0.2% poloxamer 188 and 0.002% polysorbate 80. Such combinations are described in co-owned, co-pending PCT Application No. US94/01239 filed Feb. 2, 1994, which corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/190,869 filed Feb. 2, 1994 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/012,360 filed Feb. 2, 1993, the disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be understood upon consideration of the following illustrative examples. Example 1 addresses the effects of BPI protein product on clot formation and clot lysis/dissolution under varying conditions in tube assays. Example 2 addresses the effects of BPI protein products on clot formation and clot lysis/dissolution, as monitored by turbidity measurements, under varying conditions in microtiter plate assays. Example 3 addresses the effects of BPI protein product in vivo in a rat thrombus model with concurrent administration of tPA.

EXAMPLE 1 Effects of BPI Protein Product on Clot Formation and Clot Lysis/Dissolution

A tube assay was used to determine the effects of a BPI protein product on clot formation and on clot lysis or dissolution under a variety of conditions using human plasma samples. Unless otherwise noted the human plasma used in these assays was prepared from human blood drawn from a variety of donors into ACD Vacutainer® tubes (Becton Dickinson, Mountainview, Calif.) containing citrate as an anticoagulant, and was stored frozen at −70° C. For the preparation of platelet rich plasma (PRP), the anticoagulated blood was centrifuged at approximately 180×g for 5 minutes and the plasma removed following this low-speed centrifugation. For the preparation of platelet poor plasma (PPP), the anticoagulated blood was centrifuged at approximately 460×g for 10 minutes and the plasma removed following this higher speed centrifugation.

In an initial experiment to determine whether BPI protein products interacted with plasma proteins, ACD plasma pooled from two human donors was passed over a column containing rBPI₂₃ that was conjugated to Sepharose via cyanogen bromide. Approximately 40 mL of plasma was passed through the rBPI₂₃-Sepharose column to allow binding of plasma components. The column was washed with phosphate buffered saline (10 mM phosphate, 0.15 M NaCl, pH 7.2) until the OD₂₈₀ of the wash was <0.02. The bound plasma components were eluted with high salt (1.5 M NaCl) and the protein eluate was analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Amino acid sequence analysis of several protein bands showed that prothrombin and fibrinogen were bound by rBPI₂₃.

The ability of exemplary BPI protein products to delay clot formation (i.e., anticoagulant activity) and/or to enhance the dissolution or lysis of a clot once formed (i.e., thrombolytic activity) was evaluated. Such anticoagulant and/or thrombolytic activity demonstrates the utility of BPI protein products for the treatment of thrombotic disorder in a subject suffering from such disorder. The effects of BPI protein products were evaluated in PPP and PRP under a variety of conditions as follows.

A. Effect of Different Surface Environments

Clot formation and lysis were evaluated in the presence and absence of rBPI₂₁ in polypropylene or glass test tubes. For all experiments in this and subsequent examples, the rBPI₂₁ used was formulated at 2 mg/mL in 5 mM citrate, 150 mM NaCl, 0.2% poloxamer 188 (Pluronic F-68, BASF Wyandotte, Parsippany, N.J.), and 0.002% polysorbate 80 (TWEEN 80, ICI Americas Inc., Wilmington, Del.). Other BPI protein products used herein were similarly formulated at 1 mg/mL. The 0.1% HSA-TBS used was 0.1% human serum albumin (HSA) [Alpha Therapeutics, Los Angeles, Calif.] in Tris-buffered saline (TBS) [0.02M Tris, 0.15 M NaCl, pH 7.4]. For the clot formation part of this experiment, the following reagents were mixed together in the following order: (1) 160 μL of PPP (Donor RL); (2) 40 μL of rBPI₂₁ (either 10 or 250 μg/mL in 0.1% HSA-TBS); and (3) 200 μL of 40 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.8.

The tubes were allowed to stand at room temperature, and every 1 minute the tubes were checked by gently tipping the tube and visually inspecting it for clot formation. The time in minutes to clot formation after CaCl₂ addition was measured. Minutes to Clot Formation (After CaCl₂ Addition) Control rBPI₂₁ rBPI₂₁ Tube Type (0.1% HSA-TBS) 1 μg/mL 25 μg/mL Polypropylene 12 14 24 Glass 6 6 9 Clot formation was faster in glass tubes than in polypropylene tubes. However, rBPI₂₁ prolonged clotting times in both glass and polypropylene tubes. The higher rBPI₂₁ concentration tested (25 μg/mL) produced the longest delay in clotting time.

For the clot dissolution part of this experiment, 33 minutes after CaCl₂ addition, 44 μL of tPA [Calbiochem, San Diego, Calif.] (600 units/mL, or 1 μg/mL) were added to each tube to provide a final tPA concentration of 60 units/mL (or 100 ng/mL). This is in the range of elevated endogenous concentrations observed for tPA in certain physiologic states/conditions [See, e.g., von der Möhlen et al., Blood, 85:3437-3443 (1995); Suffradini, et al., New Engl. J. Med., 320:1165-1172 (1989)]. The tubes were incubated for 10 minutes at room temperature, then placed in a 37° C. water bath. Each tube was checked for clot dissolution/lysis by visual inspection.

After 5 minutes, the rBPI₂₁-treated clots in glass tubes had detached from the sides of the tube while all other clots remained adhered to the side of the tube. At 3.5 hours the clot in the 25 μg/mL rBPI₂₁ polypropylene tube was smaller, approximately {fraction (1/3)} the size of the clots in the 1 μg/mL rBPI₂₁ and control polypropylene tubes. Clot dissolution/lysis times were faster in glass than in polypropylene tubes. The presence of 25 μg/mL rBPI₂₁ accelerated the dissolution of the clot. In all subsequent experiments, polypropylene tubes were utilized to minimize the protein adsorption effects of the glass.

B. Effect of Calcium Ion Concentration

Clot formation and lysis were evaluated in the presence or absence of rBPI₂₁ with varying concentrations of calcium (10, 15, 20 mM) to determine optimum calcium concentration. For the clot formation part of this experiment, the following reagents were mixed together in a polypropylene test tube in the following order: (1) 60 μL of 0.1% HSA-TBS; (2) 100 μL of PPP (Donor PC); (3) 40 μL of rBPI₂₁ (either 10 or 250 μg/mL in 0.1% HSA-TBS); and (4) 200 μL of 20, 30, or 40 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.8.

The tubes were allowed to stand at room temperature and were checked every 1 minute for gel clot formation by visual inspection. At all calcium concentrations tested, increased rBPI₂₁ concentrations correlated with increased clotting time. The higher rBPI₂₁ concentration produced the longest delay in clotting time.

For the clot dissolution part of this experiment, 35 minutes after CaCl₂ addition, 44 μL of tPA (600 units/mL, or 1 μg/mL) were added to each tube to provide a final tPA concentration of 60 units/mL or 100 ng/mL. The tubes were incubated in a 37° C. water bath and checked approximately every twenty minutes for clot dissolution/lysis by visual inspection.

rBPI₂₁ accelerated the dissolution of the clot. Again, this was most apparent at the 25 μg/mL rBPI₂₁ concentration. Optimal clot formation and clot lysis was observed using 10 mM calcium. In all subsequent experiments, 10 mM CaCl₂ was used for initiation of clotting and lysis.

C. Effect of Pre-Clot and Post-Clot Addition of tPA

Clot formation and lysis were evaluated in the presence or absence of rBPI₂₁ with pre-clot or post-clot addition of tPA. For the clot formation part of this experiment, the following reagents were mixed together in a polypropylene test tube in the following order: (1) 60 μL of 0.1% HSA-TBS; (2) 100 μL of PPP (Donor PC); (3) 40 μL of rBPI₂₁ (either 10 or 250 μg/mL in 0.1% HSA-TBS); (4) for pre-clot only, 44 μL of tPA (600 units/mL, or 100 ng/mL); and (5) 200 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.8.

The tubes were allowed to stand at room temperature and were checked every 1 minute for gel clot formation by visual inspection. The time in minutes to clot formation after CaCl₂ addition were measured. A delay in clot formation was observed only for 25 μg/mL rBPI₂₁ with pre-clot tPA addition.

For the clot dissolution part of this experiment, 35 minutes after CaCl₂ addition, 44 μL of tPA (600 units/mL, or 1 μg/mL) were added to the post-clot tubes. The final tPA concentration in all tubes (pre- and post-clot) was 60 units/mL or 100 ng/mL. All tubes were incubated in a 37° C. water bath and checked approximately every twenty minutes for clot dissolution/lysis by visual inspection. Time to clot dissolution in hours (for post-clot addition of tPA) or in minutes (for pre-clot addition of tPA) was evaluated. In this experiment, clot lysis when the tPA was added pre-clot was at least 6 times faster than post-clot. The rBPI₂₁ at 25 μg/mL appeared to accelerate clot lysis time. Because of the unexpectedly rapid dissolution of the clot under conditions of pre-clot tPA addition, precise times for clot dissolution were not assessed in this experiment. These results demonstrated that clot lysis was dramatically accelerated by the addition of tPA prior to clot formation rather than after clot formation.

D. Effect of Pre-Clot Addition of Varying Concentrations of tPA

Clot formation and lysis were evaluated in the presence or absence of rBPI₂₁ with pre-clot addition of tPA to a final concentration of 0, 6, or 60 units/mL. For the clot formation final part of this experiment, the following reagents were mixed together in a polypropylene test tube in the following order: (1) 60 μL of 0.1% HSA-TBS; (2) 100 μL of PPP (Donor RL); (3) 40 μL of rBPI₂₂ (either 10 or 250 μg/mL in 0.1% HSA-TBS; (4) 44 μL of tPA (600 units/mL, or 100 ng/mL) or buffer control (0.1% HSA-TBS); and (5) 200 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.8.

The tubes were allowed to stand at room temperature, and were checked every 1 minute for gel clot formation by visual inspection. The minutes to clot formation after CaCl₂ addition were measured. Adding increasing amounts of tPA (0, 6, 60 units/mL) did not significantly alter the time to clot formation for the conditions tested. Minutes to Clot Formation tPA (After CaCl₂ Addition) Concentration Control rBPI₂₁ ˜1 rBPI₂₁ ˜25 (units/mL) (0.1% HSA-TBS) μg/mL μg/mL 0 17 19 44 6 18 19 45 60 15 20 45

For the clot dissolution part of this experiment, 53 minutes after CaCl₂ addition, all tubes were placed in a 37° C. water bath and checked for clot dissolution/lysis by visual inspection. Time to clot dissolution in hours or minutes was evaluated. With no tPA, no clot lysis was observed. A tPA dose response effect was observed, with the higher tPA concentration (60 units/mL) producing the most rapid clot dissolution. Under these conditions with this donor's plasma, rBPI₂₁ had a much greater effect on the delay of clot formation while having minimal effect on clot dissolution. It is apparent that individual plasma donors can have significantly different clotting and dissolution times (compare results in parts A-C above). These differences could be due to different concentrations of crucial clotting factors in individual donor plasma.

E. Effect of rBPI₂₁ and tPA when Added Pre-Activation and Post-Activation

Clot formation and lysis were evaluated when both rBPI₂₁ and tPA were added prior to calcium addition (pre-activation or pre-calcium) and 4 minutes after calcium addition (post-activation or post-calcium). The following reagents were mixed together in a polypropylene test tube in the following order: (1) 60 μL of 0.1% HSA-TBS; (2) 100 μL of PPP (Donor PC); (3) 84 μL of rBPI₂₁ (either 5, 25 or 125 μg/mL) with tPA (300 units/ml, 50 ng/mL), or buffer control (0.1% HSA-TBS); and (4) 200 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.8.

The tubes were allowed to stand at room temperature, and were checked every 1 minute for gel clot formation by visual inspection. The minutes to clot formation after CaCl₂ addition were measured. Minutes to Clot Formation (After CaCl₂ Addition) Timing of Control rBPI₂₁ and (0.1% rBPI₂₁ ˜1 rBPI₂₁ ˜5 rBPI₂₁ ˜25 tPA addition HSA-TBS) μg/mL μg/mL μg/mL Pre-Calcium 7 7 8 11 4 min Post- 7 7 8 8 Calcium In this experiment, 25 μg/mL rBPI₂₁ slowed clot formation only when present prior to calcium addition. No significant effect was observed on rate of clot formation when the rBPI₂₁ was added 4 minutes after calcium addition.

For the clot dissolution part of this experiment, 15 minutes after CaCl₂ addition, all tubes were placed in a 37° C. water bath and checked approximately every minute for clot dissolution/lysis by visual inspection. The minutes to clot dissolution were measured. Minutes to Clot Lysis (After Placement in Water Bath) Timing of Control rBPI₂₁ and (0.1% rBPI₂₁ ˜1 rBPI₂₁ ˜5 rBPI₂₁ ˜25 tPA addition HSA-TBS) μg/mL μg/ML μg/mL Pre-Calcium 58 54 53 51 4 min Post- 50 45 44 40 Calcium Clot dissolution appeared to be faster when rBPI₂₁ and tPA were added post-calcium compared to pre-calcium. A small rBPI₂₁ dose-response effect on clot dissolution was detected for both pre- and post-calcium groups. These results indicated that the timing of rBPI₂₁ and tPA addition relative to calcium addition (clot activation) influenced clot formation and dissolution.

In an additional experiment using higher plasma concentrations, clot formation and lysis were evaluated when rBPI₂₁ and tPA were added pre-calcium and 3 minutes post-calcium. The following reagents were mixed together in a polypropylene test tube in the following order: (1) 160 μL of PPP (Donor PC); (2) 84 μL of rBPI₂₁ (either 5, 25 or 125 μg/mL) with tPA (300 units/mL, or 50 ng/mL) or buffer control (0.1% HSA-TBS); and (3) 200 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.8.

The tubes were allowed to stand at room temperature and were checked every 1 minute for gel clot formation by visual inspection. The minutes to clot formation after CaCl₂ addition were measured. In this experiment, 25 μg/mL rBPI₂₁ slowed clot formation (˜50% prolongation) when present prior to calcium addition. A slight effect (˜22% prolongation) was observed on clot formation when 25 μg/mL rBPI₂₁ was added 3 minutes after calcium addition.

For the clot dissolution part of this experiment, 15 minutes after CaCl₂ addition, all tubes were placed in a 37° C. water bath and checked for clot dissolution/lysis by visual inspection. The minutes to clot dissolution were measured. A small rBPI₂₁ dose-response effect on clot dissolution was again detected for both pre- and post-calcium addition groups. Only minimal differences in clot dissolution were observed between pre- and post-calcium addition of rBPI₂, and tPA. Although a larger difference in clot dissolution between pre- and post-calcium addition groups was observed in a previous experiment, that result may have been due to the different plasma concentration utilized. These results confirmed those of the previous experiments that the timing of rBPI₂₁ and tPA addition relative to calcium addition (clot activation), as well as plasma concentration, influenced clot formation and dissolution.

F. Effect of Clotting Temperature

Clot formation and lysis were evaluated at several clotting temperatures. For the clot formation part of this experiment, the following reagents were mixed together in a polypropylene test tube in the following order: (1) 60 μL of 0.1% HSA-TBS; (2) 100 μL of PPP (Donor PC); (3) 40 μL of rBPI₂₁ (either 10, 50 or 250 μg/mL) or buffer control; (4) 44 μL of tPA (600 units/mL, or 100 ng/mL) or buffer control (0.1% HSA-TBS); and (5) 200 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.8.

The tubes were incubated at room temperature (R.T.) or 37° C. and were checked every 1 minute for gel clot formation by visual inspection. The minutes to clot formation after CaCl₂ addition were measured. Minutes to Clot Formation Temperature (After CaCl₂ Addition) for clotting Control (Timing of tPA (0.1% rBPI₂₁ ˜1 rBPI₂₁ ˜5 rBPI₂₁ ˜25 Addition) HSA-TBS) μg/mL μg/mL μg/mL R.T. 7 7 8 10 (Pre-clot tPA) 37° C. 5 5 6 8 (Pre-clot tPA) 37° C. 5 5 6 7 (Post-clot tPA) Clot formation proceeded more rapidly at 37° C. than at R.T. However, 25 μg/mL rBPI₂₁ delayed clot formation at both temperatures. Under the conditions tested in this experiment, the lower concentrations of rBPI₂₁ did not appear to have an effect on rate of clot formation.

For the clot dissolution part of this experiment, 15 minutes after CaCl₂ addition, 44 μL of tPA (600 units/mL, or 1 μg/mL) were added to post-clot tubes to provide a final concentration of 60 units/mL (or 100 ng/mL). The tubes were placed in a 37° C. water bath and checked for clot dissolution/lysis by visual inspection. Time to clot dissolution in hours (for post-clot addition of tPA) or in minutes (for pre-clot addition of tPA) was measured. Minutes/Hours to Clot Lysis Temperature (After CaCl₂ Addition) for clotting Control (Timing of tPA (0.1% rBPI₂₁ ˜1 rBPI₂₁ ˜5 rBPI₂₁ ˜25 Addition) HSA-TBS) μg/mL μg/mL μg/mL R.T. 38 min. 33 min. 37 min. 38 min.  (Pre-clot tPA) 37° C. 45 min. 30 min. 31 min. 29 min.  (Pre-clot tPA) 37° C. 10-12 hours^(#) 7-8 hours^(#) 7-8 hours^(#) 6 hours^(#) (Post-clot tPA) ^(#)Time estimated based on clot size at the 7 hour time point. Clot lysis was greatly accelerated when tPA was added pre-clot formation compared to post-clot formation. For pre-clot tPA addition, rBPI₂₁ provided a greater acceleration of clot lysis time when the clot was formed at 37° C. compared to at R.T. (˜35% versus ˜3%). All subsequent experiments were performed at 37° C. G. Effect of rBPI₂₁, rBPI₅₀, and rLBP

Clot formation and lysis were evaluated with rBPI₂₁, rBPI₅₀, and rLBP. The following reagents were mixed together in a polypropylene test tube in the following order: (1) 60 μL of 0.1% HSA-TBS; (2) 100 μL of PPP (Donor PC); (3) 40 μL of rBPI₂₁, rBPI₅₀, or rLBP (either 10, 50 or 250 μg/mL) or buffer control; and (4) 200 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.8.

The tubes were incubated in a 37° C. water bath and were checked every 1 minute for gel clot formation by visual inspection. The minutes to clot formation after CaCl₂ addition were measured. Minutes to Clot Formation (After CaCl₂ Addition) Control 1 μg/mL 5 μg/mL 25 μg/mL (0.1% of tested of tested of tested Tested Protein HSA-TBS) protein protein protein rBPI₂₁ 6 5 7 8 rBPI₅₀ 6 4 6 6 rLBP 6 5 5 5 25 μg/mL rBPI₂₁ slowed the rate of clot formation, while rBPI₅₀ and rLBP clotting times were comparable to the controls.

For the clot dissolution part of this experiment, 15 minutes after CaCl₂ addition, 44 μL of tPA (600 units/mL, 1 μg/mL) were added to all tubes to provide a final concentration of 60 units/mL (100 ng/mL). Then tubes were placed in a 37° C. water bath and checked for clot dissolution/lysis by visual inspection. The minutes to clot dissolution were measured. Hours to Clot Lysis (After Placement in Water Bath) Control 1 μg/mL 5 μg/mL 25 μg/mL Tested Protein (0.1% of tested of tested of tested Added HSA-TBS) protein protein protein rBPI₂₁ 13-14*  7 7 7 rBPI₅₀ 13-14* 10 11 7 rLBP 13-14* 13-14* 8 11 *Time estimated based on clot size at 11 hours. At all concentrations tested, rBPI₂₁ decreased clot lysis time by approximately 50%. rBPI₅₀ decreased clot lysis by approximately 29% at 1 μg/mL, 19% at 5 μg/mL and 50% at 25 μg/mL. rLBP decreased clot lysis time by approximately 57% at 5 μg/mL, approximately 29% at 25 μg/mL, and had no discernable effect at 1 μg/mL. These results show that, on a mass basis, rBPI₂₁ was more potent than rBPI₅₀ and rLBP in enhancing the effects of tPA on clot dissolution. H. Effect of Fresh Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and Platelet Poor Plasma (PPP)

Clot formation and lysis were evaluated in the presence and absence of rBPI₂₁ with freshly collected platelet rich plasma (PRP) and platelet poor plasma (PPP) from the same donor. The following reagents were mixed together in a polypropylene test tube in the following order: (1) 120 μL of fresh PRP or PPP (Donor EL); (2) 80 μL of rBPI₂₁ (either 5, 25 or 125 μg/mL) or control (0.1% HSA-TBS) and tPA (300 units/mL); and (3) 200 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.8.

The tubes were incubated in a 37° C. water bath, and were checked every 1 minute for gel clot formation by visual inspection. The minutes to clot formation after CaCl₂ addition were measured. Minutes to Clot Formation (After CaCl₂ Addition) Control (0.1% rBPI₂₁ rBPI₂₁ rBPI₂₁ Type of Plasma HSA-TBS) 1 μg/mL 5 μg/mL 25 μg/mL Platelet Poor 21 24 36 55 Platelet Rich 15 16 21 37 A direct rBPI₂₁ dose-response effect on rate of clot formation was observed for both PPP and PRP; higher concentrations of rBPI₂₁ produced greater prolongation of clot formation. For all conditions tested in this experiment, PRP exhibited faster clotting times than PPP.

For the clot dissolution part of this experiment, incubation was continued at 37° C. without further addition of reagents. The minutes to clot dissolution were measured. Minutes to Clot Lysis (After CaCl₂ Addition) Control (0.1% rBPI₂₁ rBPI₂₁ rBPI₂₁ Type of Plasma HSA-TBS) 1 μg/mL 5 μg/mL 25 μg/mL Platelet Poor 71 59 66 86 Platelet Rich 81 65 66 81

For all conditions tested, the fresh PRP had longer clot dissolution times than fresh PPP. For each plasma type (PRP or PPP), clot dissolution was fastest at the 1 μg/mL concentration of rBPI₂₁. The time from clot formation to clot dissolution is calculated and shown below. Duration of Clot (Time of Clot Formation Subtracted From Time of Clot Lysis Control (0.1% rBPI₂₁ rBPI₂₁ rBPI₂₁ Type of Plasma HSA-TBS) 1 μg/mL 5 μg/mL 25 μg/mL Platelet Poor 50 35 30 31 Platelet Rich 66 49 45 44

In this experiment, a dose response effect was observed for clot formation; increasing rBPI₂₁ concentration resulted in increasing clotting times in both PRP and PPP. However, a rBPI₂₁ dose response effect was not clearly observed for clot dissolution. Overall, faster clot dissolution times were observed for rBPI₂₁ at 1 μg/mL. However, if the time between clot formation to clot dissolution is measured, then there are only modest differences in clot dissolution times. From these results, it appeared that at lower rBPI₂₁ concentrations, greater effects were observed on clot dissolution rather than clot formation. As rBPI₂₁ concentration was increased, greater effects were observed on clot formation rather than clot dissolution.

I. Effect of rBPI₂₁ on Freshly Collected Blood

Clot formation was evaluated with rBPI₂₁ and freshly collected blood. For this experiment, blood was collected into four siliconized 3 mL Vacutainer® tubes containing either 50, 100, 200 μg/ml rBPI₂₁ or control formulation buffer. Each tube was inverted several times after blood collection and placed on ice until blood had been collected for all tubes. (Collection time of each tube was less than thirty seconds.)

All tubes were placed in a 37° C. water bath and checked every one minute by gently tipping the tube and visually inspecting it for clot formation. Minutes to Clot Formation (After Placement in 37° C. Water Bath) Control (0.1% rBPI₂₁ rBPI₂₁ rBPI₂₁ Type of Plasma HSA-TBS) 50 μg/mL 100 μg/mL 200 μg/mL Whole Blood 6 11 16 30 (Donor PM) Increasing rBPI₂₁ concentration slowed the rate of clot formation in a dose dependent manner, but did not completely prevent clot formation.

EXAMPLE 2 Effects of BPI Protein Products on Clot Formation and Clot Lysis in Microtiter Plate Assays

A 96-well microtiter plate assay was used to evaluate the effects of a BPI protein product on clot formation under a variety of conditions using human plasma samples. These assays confirmed the results of tube assays described in Example 1. For these assays, human plasma, either PRP or PPP, was prepared as described in Example 1.

For the plate-based assay, all experiments were conducted at 37° C. and total volume per well was ˜200 μL in the presence or absence of tPA as a pre-clot addition or ˜250 μL where tPA (50 μL) was added post-clot formation to the 200 μL containing well.

A. Effect of BPI Protein Product and Pre-Clot Addition of tPA: Fresh PRP and PPP

Clot formation was evaluated when rBPI₂₁ and tPA were added to fresh PRP or PPP prior to calcium addition. The following reagents were added to each well of a 96 well microtiter plate (e.g., Dynatec, Chantilly, Va., CoStar, Cambridge, Mass.) in the following order: (1) 60 μL of 0.1% HSA-TBS; (2) 50 μL of fresh PRP or PPP (Donor PM); (3) 20 μL of rBPI₂₁ (1000, 250, 50, 10 or 2 μg/mL); (4) 20 μL of tPA (600 units/mL, 100 ng/mL); and (5) 50 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.4.

Immediately after CaCl₂ addition, the turbidity of the wells was measured as the optical density at 405 nm at various times (in this experiment at 2 minute intervals for 2 hours) by using an automatic plate reader (Vmax Plate Reader, Molecular Devices, Menlo Park, Calif.). The entire plate was scanned within 5 seconds. The OD₄₀₅ versus time data at 2 minute intervals over a 2 hour period was plotted. The rate of clot formation was measured as a change in OD₄₀₅ over time, i.e., as the clot formed the OD₄₀₅ increased. After the peak OD₄₀₅ was achieved, the pre-clot addition of tPA allowed dissolution of the clot as measured by a decrease in OD₄₀₅ over time.

In this experiment, rBPI₂₁ completely prevented clot formation of both PRP and PPP at concentrations of 5, 25 and 100 μg/ml. At 1 μg/mL, rBPI₂₁ effectively delayed time to clot as measured by a delay in time to peak OD₄₀₅ levels [clot time] and a decrease in peak OD₄₀₅ intensity [clot density]. At 0.2 μg/mL, rBPI₂₁ clot formation time was comparable to the control.

B. Effect of Various BPI Protein Products and Control Protein with Pre-Clot Addition of tPA: Frozen PPP

Clot formation was evaluated when rBPI₂₁, rBPI₅₀, rBPI₄₂, LBP and thaumatin (a control cationic protein having a similar size and charge as rBPI₂₁) and tPA were added to PPP prior to calcium addition. The following reagents were added to each well of a 96 well microtiter plate in the following order: (1) 60 μL of 0.1% HSA-TBS; (2) 50 μL of PPP that had been frozen at −70° C. (Donor PM); (3) 20 μL of protein product (rBPI₂₁, rBPI₅₀, rBPI₄₂, LBP and thaumatin each at 1000, 250, 50, 10 or 2 μg/mL); (4) 20 μL of tPA (600 units/mL, 100 ng/mL); and (5) 50 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.4. Immediately after CaCl₂ addition, the turbidity of the wells was measured as the OD₄₀₅ at various times as described in part A above. In this experiment, the time to clot formation was determined as the minutes to clot formation as measured by the time at which the OD₄₀₅ had reached its peak value. Minutes to Clot Formation Protein 0.2 1.0 5.0 25.0 100.0 Product Control μg/mL μg/mL μg/mL μg/mL μg/mL rBPI₂₁ 34 32 34 50  50† No clot rBPI₅₀ 34 34 34 40  46† No clot rBPI₄₂  40* 28 24 20  30† No clot LBP 34 30 30 32 34 38 Thaumatin  40* 32 34 32 34 34 †peak height substantially decreased (e.g., 3-4 fold) from control *higher effective concentration of citrate in formulation buffer control At 100 μg/mL, rBPI₂₁, rBPI₅₀, rBPI₄₂ completely prevented clot formation (as measured by no detectable increase in OD₄₀₅ over the 2 hour kinetic plate reader analysis), and at 25 μg/mL, these BPI protein products substantially prevented clotting (as measured by a slight OD₄₀₅ increase over the 2 hours). At 5 μg/mL, rBPI₂₁ and rBPI₅₀ effectively delayed time to clot as measured by a delay in time to peak OD₄₀₅ levels. LBP and thaumatin did not affect time to clot formation in this experiment. The lack of effect by the cationic control protein thaumatin indicated that the delay to clot formation by BPI protein products was not simply a charge effect due to their cationic properties. C. Effect of BPI Protein Product and Pre-Clot Addition of Various Plasminogen Activators: Frozen PPP

Clot formation was evaluated when rBPI₂₁ and a plasminogen activator (tPA, urokinase or streptokinase) were added to PPP prior to calcium addition. The following reagents were added to each well of a 96 well microtiter plate in the following order: (1) 60 μL of 0.1% HSA-TBS; (2) 50 μL of PPP that had been frozen at −70° C. (Donor PM); (3) 20 μL of rBPI₂₁ (1000, 250, 50, 10 or 2 μg/mL); (4) 20 μL of PA (tPA, 1000 ng/mL; for urokinase, 100 and 1000 ng/mL; for streptokinase, 100 and 1000 ng/mL); and (5) 50 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.4.

Immediately after CaCl₂ addition, the turbidity of the wells was measured as the OD₄₀₅ as described in part A above. In this experiment, rBPI₂₁ at 100 μg/mL completely prevented clot formation (as measured by no detectable increase in OD₄₀₅ over the 2 hour kinetic plate reader analysis), and at 25 μg/mL, it substantially prevented clotting under conditions where tPA, urokinase or streptokinase was present in the pre-clot mixture. Effects on decreasing clot formation were observed with 5 μg/mL rBPI₂₁. At 1 and 0.2 μg/mL, rBPI₂₁ clot formation time was comparable to the control. At the concentrations of urokinase tested (10 and 100 ng/mL), clot dissolution did not occur following clot formation, as it did with 100 ng/mL tPA and 100 ng/mL (but not 10 ng/mL) streptokinase.

D. Effect of BPI Protein Product on Plasma from Various Donors: Fresh PPP

Clot formation was evaluated when rBPI₂₁ (but not tPA) was added to fresh PPP prior to calcium addition. The following reagents were added to each well of a 96 well microtiter plate in the following order: (1) 80 μL of 0.1% HSA-TBS; (2) 50 μL of fresh PPP (Donors MW, RD and RL); (3) 20 μL of rBPI₂₁ (1000, 250, 50, 10 or 2 μg/mL); and (4) 50 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.4.

Immediately after CaCl₂ addition, the turbidity of the wells was measured as the OD₄₀₅ as described in part A above. In this experiment, rBPI₂₁ at various concentrations slowed or prevented clot formation. Some individual variation was observed in the response among the three donor plasma samples simultaneously tested. For all three donors, rBPI₂₁ at 25 and 100 μg/mL completely prevented clot formation of fresh PPP. At 5 μg/mL, rBPI₂₁ also completely prevented clot formation of the PPP from one donor (RL) and substantially prevented clotting of the PPP from the other two donors (MW and RD). At 1 μg/mL, rBPI₂₁ substantially prevented clotting of the PPP from one donor (RL), and reduced clotting was observed in the PPP of the other two donors (MW and RD). A slight effect was observed even at 0.2 μg/mL rBPI₂₁ with one donor; generally at 0.2 μg/mL rBPI₂₁, clot formation was comparable to control.

E. Effect of Multiple BPI Protein Products After Thrombin-Driven Clot Formation and Post-Clot tPA Addition: Fresh PPP

Clot lysis was evaluated when rBPI₂₁ and tPA were added to fresh PPP with 0.125 units/mL thrombin and calcium. The following reagents were added to each well of a 96 well microtiter plate in the following order: (1) 80 μL of 0.1% HSA-TBS; (2) 50 μL of PPP that had been frozen at −70° C. (Donor PM); (3) 20 μL of rBPI₂₁ or rBPI₄₂ (50, 10 or 2 μg/mL); and (4) 50 μL of 20 mM CaCl₂ in TBS, pH 7.4 with 0.5 units/mL thrombin.

After thrombin and CaCl₂ addition, clot formation was allowed to occur and 50 μL of tPA (300 units/mL, 500 ng/mL) with 0.5 units/mL of heparin in TBS, pH 7.4 were added. After clot formation and tPA addition (˜15 minutes), the turbidity of the wells was measured as the OD₄₀₅. In this initial experiment with thrombin-driven clot formation, rBPI₂₁ or rBPI₄₂ with post-clot addition of tPA allowed dissolution of the clot as measured by a decrease in OD₄₀₅ over time. Increasing the concentration of rBPI₂₁ or rBPI₄₂ (0.2, 1 and 5 μg/mL) with a constant concentration of tPA (100 ng/mL) resulted in enhanced clot dissolution (i.e., the rate at which the OD₄₀₅ decreased was ˜2-4 fold faster).

EXAMPLE 3 Effects of BPI Protein Product on tPA-Induced Clot Lysis in a Rat Thrombosis Model

A rat thrombosis model was used to determine the effects of a BPI protein product (rBPI₂₁) with a thrombolytic agent (tPA) on clot lysis and reocclusion after thrombolytic therapy. The methods of Klement et al., Thrombosis Haemostasis, 68:64-68 (1992), were modified as described herein to determine the effects of rBPI₂₁ in 5 mM citrate, 150 mM NaCl, 0.2% poloxamer 188, 0.002% polysorbate 80 on tPA-induced clot lysis in vivo. In this experiment, two groups of rats (5 for the vehicle-treated group and 5 for the rBPI₂₁-treated group) were anesthetized with ketamine/Rompum, and catheters were placed in both jugular veins for administration of therapeutic agents. The right common carotid artery was cannulated to measure blood pressure and heart rate. A midline incision was made in the lower abdomen to expose the terminal aorta and iliac vessels, which were dissected free of connective tissue and separated from the vena cava, where possible, and the great veins. All of the numerous small branches from the aorta that were observed were ligated in order to isolate a section of the vessel approximately 1 cm in length. The left iliac artery was cannulated with a 20 gauge blunt needle sealed with a rubber septum. An ultrasonic flow transducer cuff was placed around the right iliac artery in order to measure blood flow with a flow meter [Crystal Biotech, Holliston, Mass.]. The flow signal was recorded on a chart recorder.

The following procedures were carried out in order to injure the aorta and thus provide a surface for clot formation. The 20 gauge needle was advanced into the aorta and slowly moved against the vessel wall along a 1 to 1.5 cm length. This was repeated 8 times. The needle was removed and the same area of the aorta was pinched 4 times with smooth forceps. Subsequently, an area of stenosis was produced in the terminal aorta by gently tightening silk thread at two locations. Right iliac blood flow was measured at this time and designated as the “pre-occlusion” level.

At this point, the rBPI₂₁-treated rats were administered 20 mg/kg rBPI₂₁ as a 2 mg/mL solution in 5 mM citrate 0.2% poloxamer 188, 150 mM NaCl (Pluronic F-68, BASF Wyandotte, Parsippany, N.J.) and 0.002% polysorbate 80 (Tween 80, ICI Americas Inc., Wilmington, Del.), pH 5 as a bolus over 30 seconds (4 mL/kg) intravenously into one of the jugular veins, followed by a constant infusion of rBPI₂₁ at 20 mg/kg/hr that was continued until the end of the experiment. The vehicle-treated rats received the same volumes; the vehicle solution was 5 mM citrate 150 mM NaCl, 0.2% poloxamer 188, (Pluronic F-68, BASF Wyandotte, Parsippany, N.J.) and 0.002% polysorbate 80 (Tween 80, ICI Americas Inc., Wilmington, Del.), pH 5. Next, the right iliac artery was occluded with a small metal clip placed just above the blood flow cuff. Since the left iliac artery was already sealed by the needle catheter, blood was then trapped above the occlusion. Finally, the aorta was occluded above the injured site, producing a stenotic area with stasis. The occlusions were maintained for 30 minutes and then removed. Confirmation that a clot had formed was provided by the failure to record flow through the right iliac artery.

Five minutes after removal of the occlusions, t-PA was administered into the other jugular vein (in which rBPI₂₁ had not been administered) as a bolus of 1 mg/kg followed by an infusion of 1 mg/kg over 1 hour. After 1 hour, both the tPA and the rBPI₂₁ (or vehicle) infusions were discontinued and the experiment was terminated; Clot lysis was defined as a return of blood flow through the right iliac artery to 50% of the pre-occlusion level. The length of time until clot lysis was recorded, as well as the time until the first reocclusion after the initial clot lysis. The number of times that the vessel became reoccluded over the 1 hour period of t-PA treatment was also recorded. Reocclusion was defined as a reduction in blood flow to 10% of the pre-occlusion level. Statistical comparisons between the buffer- and rBPI₂₁-treated groups were done with Student's T test. Neither t-PA nor rBPI₂₁ produced any adverse systemic effects, other than a rise in blood pressure due solely to the aortic occlusion.

The results revealed no significant difference in the mean time to clot lysis, which was 14.4±5.1 minutes for the buffer-treated group and 16.1±4.2 minutes for the rBPI₂-treated group. Multiple reocclusion episodes occurred in all rats. The time to the first reocclusion was not significantly different between the two groups. However, the number of reocclusions was statistically significantly reduced in rBPI₂₁-treated rats (p<0.05); the rBPI₂₁-treated rats averaged 4±1.6 reocclusion episodes, while the buffer-treated rats averaged 9±1.7 reocclusion episodes.

Numerous modifications and variations of the above-described invention are expected to occur to those of skill in the art. Accordingly, only such limitations as appear in the appended claims should be placed thereon. 

1. A method for slowing clot formation in blood comprising administering to a subject a BPI protein product in an amount effective to delay or prevent clot formation in the blood.
 2. A method for enhancing clot dissolution in blood comprising administering to a subject a BPI protein product in an amount, effective to enhance clot dissolution in the blood.
 3. A method for treating a thrombotic disorder in a subject comprising administration of a pharmaceutically effective amount of a BPI protein product.
 4. A method for treating a thrombotic disorder in a subject comprising co-administration of a pharmaceutically effective amount of a BPI protein product and a thrombolytic agent.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the amount of the thrombolytic agent is less than that required for a desired pharmaceutical effect when the thrombolytic agent is administered as a monotherapy.
 6. A method for enhancing reperfusion or reducing reocclusion in a subject treated with a thrombolytic agent comprising co-administration of a pharmaceutically effective amount of a BPI protein product and the thrombolytic agent.
 7. A method for decreasing the dose of a thrombolytic agent required to establish reperfusion or to reduce reocclusion in a subject comprising co-administration of a BPI protein product and a thrombolytic agent, the dosage of the thrombolytic agent being less than that required for a desired pharmaceutical effect when the thrombolytic agent is administered as a monotherapy.
 8. A method of slowing clot formation in blood comprising contacting the blood with an amount of BPI protein product effective to delay or prevent clot formation in the blood.
 9. A method for enhancing clot dissolution in blood comprising contacting the blood with an amount of BPI protein product effective to dissolve or lyse the clot.
 10. The method of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 wherein the BPI protein product is an amino-terminal fragment of BPI protein having a molecular weight of about 21 kD to 25 kD.
 11. The method of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 wherein the BPI protein product is rBPI₂₃ or a dimeric form thereof.
 12. The method of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 wherein the BPI protein product is rBPI₂₁. 